The 2009 Stoker Awards Weekend

Stoker Weekend Before and After

2009-05-30T12:31:00.001-07:00

Hi there! Wow, we're just two weeks from the Stoker Event. If you're staying into the Sunday afternoon, here's a couple of ideas you might be interested in.

Dark Delicacies Bookstore (just a couple miles from the hotel) is holding a book launch party for the great new anthology MIDNIGHT WALK from 2:00 to 4:00. Almost all the contributors will be in attendance to sign.

Hal Bodner is organizing a tour of Hollywood Forever Cemetery, final resting place of Rudolph Valentino, Peter Lorre, Tyrone Power, Johnny Ramone, Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel and Ann Savage, among many others. It's a gorgeous spot, well worth a visit.

Hal has also arranged for a second tour of Hollywood Forever on the Thursday afternoon prior to the Stoker Weekend. This will be from 5:00 to 7:00 pm.

To go on either tour, please email Hal at hal@wehovampire.com and let him know you'll be joining him.

John R. Little and Lisa Morton
2009 Stoker Weekend Co-organizers

Three weeks and counting!

2009-05-22T16:20:00.001-07:00

Hi there! We're less than 3 weeks away now and wanted to give you some updates on a few topics.

It's been a busy but exciting time. The program book is complete and going to the printer this weekend. It has cover art by our Artist Guest of Honor, Harry O. Morris, and it's just stunning. The programming schedules have all been worked out, the parties are almost organized, and tons of other surprises await you. It's going to be an amazing weekend!

Hotel Rooms

If you're coming from out of town and haven't yet reserved your hotel room, you should do so soon. The hotel has offered our guests a very low rate of $119/night but these rooms will not last forever. The best way to ensure you get this low rate is to go to www.stokers2009.org and click on the Hotel link. Don't delay or you may end up paying more. The rooms are fabulous and you're sure to enjoy your stay.

Registration and Opening Ceremonies

Registration for the Stoker Weekend will begin at 9:00 a.m. on Friday June 12. We expect a lot of people to register that morning, so earlier would be better for you to avoid the crowds. When you register, you will receive a nametag, a banquet ticket (if you are attending the Stoker banquet) and an astonishing bag of free goodies. We're talking books from Delirium Books and Leisure books, writing books by the fabulous agent Peter Miller, Grave Tales magazines from Cemetery Dance, the Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Morbid Curiosity magazine, rare chapbooks from Gauntlet Press and a special convention-only chapbook from Bad Moon Books. All this and other gifts, too.

If that isn't enough, make sure you don't miss the Opening Ceremonies at Noon on Friday June 12. We're having some incredible door prizes: some exceptional limited edition books donated by our friends at Gauntlet Press, Bloodletting Press, Bad Moon Books, and Horror World, as well as some cool stuff from the film industry. You dont' want to miss this, so plan accordingly. That's another reason to register early!

Pitch Sessions

Our website lists everybody taking pitches on Saturday June 13. Please note that our two more recent additions, Bloodletting Press and Cargo Cult Press still have openings for pitches. If you've already got two pitches lined up and would like a third with either of these two fine presses, please email Jeannie Eddy at mdntvoices@yahoo.com to let her know. As with all our registrations, this is first come first serve!

Kaffeeklatches

We have a dozen kaffeeklatches scheduled through the weekend. Four are completely full, but eight others still have room. The Schedule page of our web site www.stokers2009.org lists the guests having klatches. If you're interested in attending some, please contact John at john.little@telus.net and let us know who you'd like to sign up for. You'll find these to be really cool, casual ways to meet some of your favourite publishing people.

Workshops

We also still have room in Mort Castle's Writing Workshop and Alexandra Sokoloff's Screenwriting Workshop. Check out the Workshop page on our site for details. You may want to sign up soon to ensure your seat, as space is limited.

Media

Finally, just a note that we have reporters and camera-people from various organizations attending the weekend, so you may see them around, particularly at the Stoker Banquet.

That's it for now. If you have any questions at all, just drop one of us a line and feel free to ask anything you like. The 2009 Stoker Weekend has been a blast to plan, and we can't wait for you to enjoy it all.

John R. Little and Lisa Morton
Stoker Weekend Co-organizers

Schedule now posted!

2009-05-09T16:22:00.001-07:00

We've now posted the complete schedule for the Stoker Weekend at our website - go to http://www.stokers2009.com and click the "Schedule" link.

We're also offering kaffeeklatch signups with Gary Braunbeck & Lucy Snyder, Ellen Datlow, John Farris, Mick Garris, David Hartwell, Barry Hoffman, Stephen Jones, Richard & R. C. Matheson, Harry O. Morris, Larry & Debra Roberts, F. Paul Wilson, and Chelsea Quinn Yarbro. Here's your chance for an intimate hour with some of the best names in horror. The number of seats at the kaffeeklatches is strictly limited and offered on a first-come/first served basis, so don't wait to sign up! Contact John Little at john.little@telus.net to reserve your spots now.

See you in June!

Ticket prices going up on May 1st!

2009-04-26T15:26:00.001-07:00

Hi there! Just a reminder for those of you who haven't yet signed up for the 2009 Stoker Weekend that prices go up on May 1. You can still sign up at the reduced rate of only $120 for the entire weekend at www.stokers2009.org

If you're still on the fence about attending, here's a sample of what we've got planned for you:

- A chance to meet some of your favorite authors including Richard Matheson, John Farris, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, F. Paul Wilson, Gary A. Braunbeck, Jeff Strand, and many others.

- Other notable guests you can meet include Mick Garris, David Hartwell, Larry Roberts, Harry O. Morris, Richard Christian Matheson, and Barry Hoffman.

- Panel discussions, readings, signings, kaffeeklatches with dozens of well-known authors.

- Presentation of the Bram Stoker Awards at a wonderful banquet.

- Workshops on Writing, Screenwriting, and Marketing.

- Four sponsored parties, including a couple that promise to be absolutely spectacular.

- For the writers, we have eight amazing people ready to take your pitches: film producers, book editors, and agents. Check out the list on our web site to see who you can sign up for.

- A Dealer Room, where you can buy new or used books and talk directly to several publishers about their products.

And there's still a number of surprises that we haven't announced yet.

So, go! Check out http://www.stokers2009.org and if you like what you see, sign up!

Lisa Morton and John R. Little (Co-Organizers)

Media Guest of Honor and schedule

2009-03-29T18:43:00.001-07:00

We're thrilled to announce that we've just added Mick Garris as our Media Guest of Honor. As you probably already know, Mick was the head honcho behind MASTERS OF HORROR and has written/directed/produced/adapted everything from episodes of AMAZING STORIES to the miniseries of Stephen King's THE STAND.

Over at the website, we've also added a complete list of the Stoker nominees and a rough schedule for the weekend:

http://www.stokers2009.com

Coming soon: News about pitch sessions and kaffeeklatsches, where you can sit down with your favorite writers in small groups for an hour.

Good stuff teaser!

2009-02-07T12:04:00.000-08:00

It's been a busy week here in Stokerland, and although we're not quite ready to make final announcements yet, here are a few big things that are coming soon:

* A huge publisher-sponsored party with a live all-star band

* A fantastic Artist Guest of Honor (the first Artist GoH we've ever had at a Stoker Weekend)

* Pitch sessions with mass market publishers, small press publishers, literary agents and at least one major film producer (seriously - you're not going to believe we got this guy to take pitches when you see his list of credits!)

* Videotaped interviews and news coverage of the entire weekend

* Event-sharing with the California Crime Writers Conference

Remember, ticket prices go up on March 1st. Right now they're only a C-note, and that includes the awards banquet on Saturday night. Really, you'll kick yourself if you miss this one!

Thursday night signing

2009-01-28T11:31:00.000-08:00

Dark Delicacies will host a mass signing on Thursday night before the weekend (June 11th). If you're an author and would like to participate, please drop a line to them at darkdel@darkdel.com . Thanks!

Ticket price increase schedule

2009-01-28T09:14:00.000-08:00

Here's the schedule of ticket price increases for the Stoker Weekend:

On March 1, full tickets will go up to $120, and banquet only/no banquet tickets will go to $75

On May 1, full tickets (if left) will go to $130, and banquet only/no banquet tickets will go to $80

All banquet ticket sales will end as of June 1

Non-banquet tickets may or may not be available at the door

Remember, ticket sales are strictly limited to 250, so get yours now!

Lifetime Achievement Award winners announced

2009-01-22T16:30:00.000-08:00

We're absolutely thrilled to announce that this year's winners of the Lifetime Achievement Award are F. Paul Wilson and Chelsea Quinn Yarbro. Both of these amazing recipients have indicated an interest in attending the Stoker weekend, so mark your calendars! And congrats to Paul and Quinn.

Publish Post

2008-12-02T18:46:00.001-08:00

We've just gone live with the website for the weekend, and you can get to it via either of these addresses:

http://www.stokers2009.com
http://www.stokers2009.org

The website is fully functional - we can accept Paypal ticket orders, and all information
on reserving hotel rooms is in place.

We've also established a Yahoo group as another way to stay up-t0-the-minute:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stokers2009/

Remember, we're cutting off ticket sales on this at 250, so don't delay!

Planning, planning, planning

2008-11-24T08:59:00.000-08:00

Even though the Stoker Weekend is still about 7 months away, there's been a lot of activity behind the scenes. So far, we've found four Guests of Honor, worked out a business plan, arranged most of what we need with the hotel, worked out a tentative strategy for the kinds of activities we want to have through the weekend, and much more.

It's a blast to work on this, and we hope you'll reserve the weekend to attend.

2008-11-23T16:30:00.000-08:00

This will be the official blog for the 2009 Stoker Awards Weekend, to be held June 12-14 in Burbank, California. Here the co-organizers Lisa Morton and John R. Little will announce new guests, events, and updates to the website as they happen. Sign up for an RSS feed or bookmark the blog now so you don't miss any of the news as it happens!